Butterscotch vanilla muffins

I made a batch of vanilla muffins with a vanilla buttercream and topped with butterscotch pieces recently.  Maternity leave is going to make me very fat!

'Nuff said

Tummy time!

Rowan isn't a huge fan of spending time on his stomach, but babies are supposed to have some time playing on their tummies so they build the muscles and motor skills to help with crawling etc.  He is holding his head up well now, and doesn't face plant the play gym anymore.

Clever baby! 
Holding head up:  Approx 4 weeks

Apologies for the state of my photos lately.  I'm still not quite organised enough to have time to sort them out on Photoshop.  So they remain uncropped and rough.  When Rowan hits three months we can start working on a routine, so hopefully I'll be able to structure my day a bit better.  Currently I'm focusing on getting through the dishes etc. when Rowan randomly sleeps so the house doesn't become a complete state.  Although we are in the middle of decorating, so it'll probably remain a state for a while yet!

Expression of freedom

Gareth fed Rowan for the first time last week.  It was really nice watching them bond over a feed, and I enjoyed not having a baby-sized nipple piercing stuck to me for an evening.
I don't intend to express very often, so I've been hand-expressing rather than buying an expensive machine.  I spent 40 minutes expressing 3oz, and Rowan downed it in about 5 minutes and I had to top him up myself anyway.  Hmm.  Not sure if it's going to give me much free time!  Although I took a look online and have found a few tips on techniques that should help speed things up.

Bottle feeding

 Gareth offered to do a night feed for me, which I was looking forward to!  Unfortunately, Rowan went back to sleep by the time the bottle was warmed, so I had to get up later anyway as the milk couldn't be re-warmed.  Oh well.  Better luck next time!

It's nice knowing that I can have some time to myself when I need it.  I'm hoping to go swimming in the next couple of weeks, or go for a bike ride, without clock-watching too much. 

Smilestones

Rowan is now definitely smiling.  For a while I wasn't sure if it was just gas, but the photo below shows there is now no doubt!  I had wondered if he might be a bit delayed with smiling since he spent his first few days on NICU sedated with no social contact, but then it was only a few days, so it probably didn't make a difference.

Happy baby
First smile: 6 weeks old

My parents were finally able to visit.  They hadn't seen Rowan since he was 5 days old, so we were obviously thrilled to be able show Rowan off to them.  My parents would have visited much sooner, but owing to several successive colds they didn't want to come up in case Rowan caught one.
I don't think it will be so long before they drop by again!

Overdue hugs with Grandad and Nanny

 After a difficult few days recently where Rowan decided hourly feeding would be great day and night (I had a cold at the time, so I didn't think it was so great), he is now sleeping 7 hours through the night.  Overall we have been lucky with him as, aside from when he's going through growth spurts, he was sleeping 5 hours a night from 3 weeks old.

Thank you cards

Below are two designs I made for Thank You cards for all the relatives/friends who kindly gave us gifts when Rowan was born, and we weren't able to thank in person.
They are a very simple design and quick to make, but considering my lack of sleep I'm just pleased I had time at all to do them!

A dog and his boy

Tangent adoring Rowan

Rowan's first art session

I decided it was time for Rowan's first art session.  As it was bath night last night I figured that was the best time to start.  I wanted to get some foot and hand prints whilst he's still tiny so I dug around in my art stuff (quite a task since I have a crazy amount of art gear that has become ridiculously disorganised over several house moves) to find some suitable materials.  I found some ink which was pretty inert (it's acid and lignin-free) so is probably safe to use on baby skin.  To be sure it would clean off ok I smeared ink from several inkpads on my own fingers first and wiped it off.  I'm glad I did this as I immediately eliminated three of my inkpads as some of it stained!

I started off taking photos, but Rowan began working himself up into a near apoplectic state, so I cut the session short and got on with bathing him.  Next time I think I'll time it better as I think he was hungry and in no mood to play at Jackson Pollock.

N.b. Rowan has had a bit of an acne outbreak, hence his flushed appearance.

Step 1:  Organise your inks and baby on a wipeable

changing mat 

 Step 2:  Make sure you have baby wipes very close

to hand

Step 3:  Realise your baby is still wearing the white

cardigan your mum knitted, so remove above apparel

before continuing

 Step 4:  Liberally apply ink to foot, making sure you

have a firm grasp of said foot so you don't end up

with footprints over changing mat, muslin, babygrow,

baby, self and surfaces you didn't realise were

within reach of baby's foot

 Step 5:  Wait for ink and tears to dry, and take 

photos of baby with artwork once he has calmed down